Life-guard for street-cars



` 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Mode1.)`

C. W. EOWE. .LI-PB GUARD FQBSTRBBT GARS.

Patented Deo. A26, 1893;

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VVITNEEEE 1 nosnAPmNa coMPANV.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

YCHARLES wESLEY HOWE, oF WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

LIFE-G UA'RD FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 511,428-, dated December 26,

Applicationiiled February 20, 1893. Serial No. 463.065. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.- A

Be it known that I, CHARLES WESLEY HOWE, of Waltham, in the county of Middlesex and State of l\Iassachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Guards for Street-0ars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in life-guard apparatus, for application to cars which are propelled by electricity or other motive power where horses are not employed.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fender whose position with relation to the surface over which the car moves will not be varied bythe vibrations of the carbody on the springs which support it, or by irregularities in the track, the said fender remaining at all times substantially parallel with such surface and at a uniform distance therefrom. z l

The accompanying drawings illustrate constructions by which my invention may be carried out.

Figure l shows a side elevation of thelower portion of a car-body and the front portion of a truck, with my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 shows a bottom plan view of the same. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged sectional detail of an extension apparatus for compensating for the up and down motion of the carbody. Fig. 4 shows an enlarged sectional View of a portion of an improved form of roller which is carried at the front ofthe fender Fig. 5 shows a cross-section of this roller. Fig. 6 shows a vertical section on line 6-6 of Flg. 1. Fig. 7 shows a cross-section on line 7-7 of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 showsaside elevation of a moditied apparatus.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, the letter a designates a truck-frame of a car, in which the wheels a are mounted so that the truck will have no A flat spring b,formedl vertical movement. of a plurality of leaves, is fastened to the under side of the truck-frame at each corner thereof, and the car-body c rests upon these springs, which are carried upwardly on au ogee curve, so that the body will be elevated above the truck. Supplemental spiral springs o are mounted on the upper side of the truck, and the car-body also rests upon these springs. A pair of brackets or frames d are secured to each side of the car-body at the front of the same, and are provided with slots d.

The fender comprises side-pieces e, with vertical portions having projecting studs e', which engage the slots d', and horizontal por- 'tions supporting a roller of improved construction at their outer ends. The bottom and back of the fender are composed of slats e3, connected by cross-ties. These slats are somewhat yielding, so as to cushion the blow of a body which may fall upon or be thrown into the fender. The roller at the front of the fender com prisesa shaft f, which is geared to an axle of the car, so as to rotate in an opposite direction to the Wheels of the car, as'

indicated by the arrow in Fig. l. Said shaft may be connected with the axle a2 of the car in any suitable manner to effect its rotation in this direction. I have here shown a pair of gears f2, supported in bearings ou the rear portion Vof the fender, and belts f3 f4 connecting said gears respectively with the shaft f and the axle a2. `The shaft f is formed with a plurality of equidistantprojectingsurfaces f5, preferably in the form of collars, and milled or roughenerl so that they will more readily catch up a body in the path of the car and carry it over upon the fender. These projecting Vsurfaces may be formed in numerous ways and have various contours.

I provide against the entanglement of the clothing or hair of a person who may be struck by the fender and carried over upon the same bythe revolving roller or shaft, by arranging a shield over the shaft between the projecting surfaces f5, in the form of a series of loose sleeves or collars f6, in which the shaft may turn freely without imparting motion to them. Those loose members may have any suitable construction. I have shown them provided with rearwardly-projecting fingers f7, whose outer ends rest on a rod f8 extending across the fender. It will be seen that these projecting ingers, besides preventing any rotation of the loose sleeves or collars when pressure is brought to bear upon them by the Weight of a body falling upon the fender, also form a bridge from the revolving shaft to the bottom of the fender, over which objects or bodies may pass without becoming entangled in the front portion of the fender. The special construction of the roller, as here shown and described, is not essential to the ICO performance of its functions, and maybe varied in many particulars, and therefore I do not confine myself to this construction, but consider myself entitled to all such variations.

Cones f9 are formed on the ends of the shaft f, outside of the side-pieces e,and these cones are designed to move a body or object to one side out of the path of the ear, in case such body or object is projecting slightlyinto the path of the car when struck by the fen-` der.

The connection from the fender to the truck and car-body, by which to compensate for the vibrations of the car and maintain the fender at a certain distance from the surface over which `the car travels, will now be described.` An elongated casing gis supported iu a horizontal position by hangers g secured to the under side of the truck, the said casing having projecting studs g2 which engage slots g3 in the said hangers. The normal position of the casing is that shown in Fig. 1, where its studs g2 rest on the lower sides of the slots g3. The purpose of these slots is to permit a limited vertical movement of the casing, for

-a purpose hereinafter explained. Vithin the casing g and extending longitudinally thereof is a series of knuckles, composed ot' links g4, jointed together in zigzag order, and fastenedat the rear end to the casing by a pin or bolt g5. The casing forms a slide-Way for these knuckles, which may be expanded and contracted therein, the pins forming the lower joints being guided in slots or grooves g6 formed in the sides of the casing. A rod his connected with the outer or front end of the knuckles, and extends horizontally to a point below the front end of the car, where it is jointed tothe outer end of a crank-arm h', fixed upon a rock-shaft h2, which is journaledin bearings formed on rearward extensions of the supporting-frame or brackets d. A pair of arms h3 are fixed on the rock-shaft h2, near the ends thereof, and these arms connect at their outer ends by links h4 with the fender. It will be observed that the arms h and 7b3 form, in effect, a bell-crank. A flat plate or head 't' bears upon the top of the knuckles g4 within the casing g, and is rigidly suspended from the car-body by a link or hanger fi.

The operation of the parts just describedis asfollows: Upon a downward movement of the car-body toward the truck, the plate or head will'press downward upon the knuckles g, and will bring about alongitudinal extension of the same and a consequent forward movement of the shaft h in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. This movement of the rod h actuates the bell-crank, tending to elevate thearms h3, whose ends are connected with the .fender and support the same. Thus the downward movement of the hangers d with the car-body is compensated for in the bell-crank by the action of the rod h on the same, and the point of connection of the fender with the arms h3 remains tixed,

whereby the fender is maintained at one position and at a constant distance from the surface over which the car moves. Upon the car body rising again, the weight of the fender restores the parts to their normal positions. lThus vibrations of the car-body do not aifect the position of the fender with relation to the surface over which the car moves, and the fender may therefore be carried in close proximity to such surface, whereby its efficiency in taking up objects or bodies in the path of the car is greatly increased.

I also make provision for maintaining the fender at its proper distance from the ground, in case of the front wheels of the truck dropping into a depression in the track. A` roller j is mounted in bearingsj, formedon the lower ends of hangers j2 secured tothe truckframe a, the said roller being allowed a vertical movement in its bearings, but' held in the lower ends of the same by springs j, This roller is designed to travel above a rail of the track behind one of'thewheels al. A casing 7o is secured to the truck and forms a slide-way for a set of knuckles 7c', similarly constructed and arranged to those in the cas ing g heretofore described, andfastenedfat one end, while the opposite end is connected with a horizontal rod k2 extending forward and joined to a bell-crank 7c3, one armkof which extends under a lever 705, whichis connected by a hanger k6 with the casing g, Af plate or head m engages the knuckles k", andi is mounted on the upper end of a rodfm" connecting with the journals of the roller j. The operation of these parts is as follows: Should the front wheels a of the truckdrop into a depression in the track, the bearings j will move downward, whereby the knuckles 7o are caused to bear down on the head or plate m and to expand longitudinally, thereby moving therod 7a2 forward, which causes the bell-crank 7c3 `7a4 to raise the lever 705 and casing g, thereby pressing the knuckles glupward against the head or plate i, andcausing an extension of the same, and a compensa-` tion for the movement of the car-body toward the ground,in the same manner as before de- IOO scribed, whereby the fender is maintainedat its proper position. After the depression or rut has been passed, the parts assume their normal positions, the bearings j moving up, so that the journals of therollerj are at the lower ends of said bearings.

Fig. 8 illustrates amodifledfconstructionfor carrying out my invention. The fender is jointed at n and n', so that it may be folded up, and the hangers 0 have straight grooves o', receiving the studs 02 on the fender;` The gearing by which the front roll of the fender is connected with an axle of the car is the same as that before described. The construe` tion by which to compensate for thevibrations of the car is somewhat dierent from, that before described. Albellcrank pispivoted in bearings` p', fastened to the? under side of the truck-frame, and one arm of this bell-crank is connected by a link or hanger p2 with thecar-body, While the other arm of the bell-crank is connected by a horizontal rod g with the vertical arm q of a bell-crank pvoted in bearings on the rear side of the hanger o, the other arm q2 of said latter bellcrank having a curved slot (13 which engages a rod g4 extending crosswise of the fender. As the car-body vibrates up and down, this motion is compensated for through the bellcrank p, rod q and bell-crank q q2, so that the fender is maintained at a constant distance from the surface over which the car travels.

It will be evident that various constructions might be employed to carry out my invention,and to accomplish the objects of the same. It is to be understood, therefore, that I do not limit myself to the means-here shown as embodying my ideas, but consider myself entitled to all variations thereof which lie within the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A life-guard for street-cars, comprising in its construction a fender supported in engagement with slide-Ways on the car-body, and a lever-and-rod connection between the fender, the car-truck and the car-body, whereby the vibrations of the car-body do not affect the position of the fender relative to the surface over which the car moves, and the fender is maintained in substantial parallelism with such surface.

2. A life-guard for street-cars, comprising in its construction a fender suitablysupported from the car-body, a knuckle or series of knuckles engaging a slide-way on the truck and having one end fastened thereto and the other end suitably connected with the fender, and a head attached to the car-body and bearing on said knuckle, substantially as described.

3. A life-guard for street-cars, comprising in its construction a fender suitably supported from the car-body, a casing supported by the car-truck, a knuckle or series of knuckles in said casing and having one end connected therewith while the opposite end is suitably connected with the fender,.and a bearinghead connected with the car and engaging the knuckle or knuckles, substantially as described.

4. A life-guard forV street-cars, comprising inits construction a fender suitably supported by the car-body, a roller in downwardly-movable bearings on the car-truck, said roller being adapted to bear on the surface over which the car moves, and suitable connections between the roller and the fender, substantially as described. l

5. A life-guard for street-cars, comprising in its construction a fender suitablysupported by the car-body, a knuckle or series of knuckles engaging a slide-way and fastened at one ries of knuckles in said casing and having one end connected therewith while the opposite end is suitably connected with the fender, a bearing-h ead connected with the car-body and engaging the knuckle or knuckles, a roller in A downwardly-movable bearings, and suitable connections between said roller and the vertically-movable casing whereby a downward movement of the roller-bearings operates to raise the casing and extend the knuckle or knuckles therein.

7. A life-guard for street-cars, comprising in its construction a frame or support attached to the carfbody, and a shaft or roller in bearings on said support and geared toan axle of the car whereby a rotary motion is imparted to the shaft in the reverse direction to the rotation of the said axle, said shaft having a series of projections and loose parts between the said projections.

8. A life-guard for street-cars, comprising in its construction a frame or support attached to the car-body, and a shaft. or roller in bearings on said support and geared to an axle of the car whereby a rotary motion is imparted to the shaft inthe reverse direction to the rotation of the said axle, said shaft having a series of projections and loose collars between said projections and provided with extensions engaging a part of the frame IOO orsupport whereby said collars are held from movement.

9. A life-guard for street-cars, comprising in its construction a frame or support connected with the car-body, and a shaft or roller in bearings on said support and having conical ends outside the support, said shaft geared to an axle ofthe car, substantially as described.

I0. A car, having an independently-movable life-guard, a downwardly-extending projectionbelow the car at a point behind said guard, said projection bearing yieldingly on the track, and mechanism intermediate of said projection and guard whereby the guard is maintained at a uniform distance from the track regardless of irregularities therein, as set forth.

In testimony ,whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 15th day of February, A. D. 1893.

CHARLES WESLEY HOWE.

Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, F. PARKER DAVIS.

IIO 

